


Exorcise Me

by AbsoluteCreed



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Hurt/Comfort, Hux is confused with feelings but is doing his best, M/M, Snoke is a dick, mentions of abuse, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 10:13:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14133948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbsoluteCreed/pseuds/AbsoluteCreed
Summary: He was inside of him.He was still inside of him...!He couldn't get him out, no matter how hard he tried.He failed, and he had been punished.Kylo comes back from being punished by Snoke, and is in horrible shape. When he stumbles across Hux, he pleads for him to help him, asking him in a rather unique, but terrifying way.





	Exorcise Me

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of the song 'Exorcism' here!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-NIUGNlRQY
> 
> (WARNING--there are flashing lights in the video!)

He was inside of him. 

He was  **still**  inside of him...! 

He couldn't get him out, no matter how hard he tried. 

He failed, and he had been punished. 

Kylo stalked down the halls of the Finalizer in a daze. He had returned from the Supremacy, after a meeting with Snoke. A mission had gone wrong, and Snoke wanted to discuss it in detail with him. ...However, that discussion soon turned dark, as Snoke realized the weaknesses that were still within his apprentice. Such failures weren't taken lightly, and Snoke made Kylo see just how disappointed he was in him. 

Kylo could barely recall everything that had happened over the course of a few days. Sensory deprivation, both physical senses and from the Force. Physical torture. Mental torture. Starvation. Healing him, only to break him down once more, leaving him gasping, twitching and bleeding. Snoke's punishments were harsh each and every time. Kylo's body bore the scars of such punishments. And there were lasting scars in his mind, too. 

_'Return to the Finalizer, until you're needed.'_  

Until he was needed... That's all he was, wasn't he? Just a tool, a weapon for Snoke to use. He wasn't getting stronger for himself, he was getting stronger so Snoke could use him more effectively. After all, the Supreme Leader having a living weapon that could destroy minds with the Force, and bodies with his spitting lightsaber? He'd be unstoppable. Snoke didn't care about him—he only cared if he lived and could still fight. His concern about him was fake...yet Kylo couldn't help but cling to it, pathetically. He  **wanted**  to be needed. Being used meant that he was useful. He thrived to be useful, to be used and have some sort of purpose in life. 

This was what he wanted. 

...Yet, why did it feel ike he had a huge hole in his chest? 

Kylo swallowed hard, breathing hard through his nose, as the halls shifted sickly in his vision. He needed to lay down. ...No, he needed to go to the medbay for all the wounds on his body, which were probably festering by now. Snoke had some of his lackeys heal Kylo's wounds, only to have them rip open again during the next punishment. Lashings with a whip, being electrocuted through the Force, being thrown around like a kriffing doll, unable to defend himself... He'd hardly gotten any rest or food either, during Snoke's punishment. The dizziness was probably from that. 

Despite it all, despite the pain and the empty feeling inside...Kylo wanted to return to Snoke. To hear those compliments from him again. He wanted to hear that he was useful and was going to be sent on another mission. He'd succeed this time, he promised! He wouldn't fail Snoke again. He couldn't fail him again...He wasn't sure if his body and mind could handle another punishment like that. 

Physical punishment was easy enough to endure. It was the mental torture that Kylo found broke him the quickest. Snoke forced himself into his mind, breaking through his walls like they were paper. Then, after that, he'd roughly shuffle through Kylo's mind, bringing up his most painful memories, and forcing Kylo to relive them over and over again, until the mere effort of resisting makes him physically ill, or black out. Kylo thought he was strong enough to resist Snoke...but he was wrong. 

He was too weak and Snoke makes that very apparent, during his punishments. 

Staggering around the corner, Kylo almost toppled over. He was in bad shape—his steps were uneven, his breathing ragged through his mask, and his gaze unfocused. His body was practically screaming at him to rest, but he knew if he fell asleep, those horrid nightmares would come in full force, spurred on by Snoke's punishment. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn't sleep. If he slept, he'd be open and vulnerable to those memories and nightmares.  He was weak enough, he didn't need to be beaten down some more. 

_'No, you need it. You need to be beaten down, until you can learn to be useful again.'_  

Kylo barely bit back a whimper, practically hearing Snoke's voice in his head, despite the man being several hundreds of miles away. He couldn't touch him out this far. ...Yet, despite the distance, Snoke still found a way to torment Kylo. His presence was always inside of him. He possessed him, and he wasn't going to leave. He was going to be with this man, until one of them died. And if things kept going this way, Kylo was going to die long before Snoke was... 

Kylo barely noticed running into someone, until a shock of fiery hair had him suddenly focus. 

"Watch where you're going, Ren." 

Kylo tilted his head down just slightly to gaze upon the scowling face of General Armitage Hux. His co-commander, and...possibly something more? Kylo wasn't sure what was going on between them. They had their flings here and there, either within each other's quarters, or even in a spare supply closet or empty conference room. Originally, it was only supposed to be just that; a fling. But something had been...brewing...between them. He knew Hux felt it, and he sure as hells felt it, too. But neither of them addressed it, too afraid to ruin what was there. 

Kylo felt his heart sink suddenly, making him wobble on the spot. 

"Ren?" Came Hux's quick, almost concerned reply, his hands out to attempt to catch the larger man. 

But Kylo barely heard him. His heart was pounding in his ears. That voice of Snoke's trickled back, speaking just above the sound of his own heartbeat. 

_'You're useless. You don't deserve him. Or anyone. You're a failure to all that come into contact with you. You don't deserve to be loved, you don't deserve to be held or kissed, or--'_  

"Shut up..." growled out Kylo hoarsely, the vocoder distorting his voice enough to make Hux start a little, giving him an odd look. Had he heard what he said? It didn't matter. He wasn't speaking to him, he was speaking to Snoke...the man that had infected him,  **possessed** him... 

_'Look at you, trembling at the knees. If he touches you, you'd be through, and on the floor in moments, sobbing and drooling until those soft words comforted you. Pathetic. How can anyone love a creature like you?'_  

Kylo wobbled again, before leaning heavily against the wall, practically falling against it. Which caused an older shoulder wound to flare up in pain, causing him to cry out. He was aware of Hux saying something, but he wasn't sure what. That heartbeat and  **his** chuckling made it hard to hear. And now it was hard to breathe. Clammy, shaky hands wrestled with his mask. He need it off, and now. It was suffocating him. He felt another pair of hands suddenly come to help him, though he was barely aware of who they belonged to. Finally, he heard the mask come undone, and he practically wrenched it off of his head, tossing it down the hall. The loud thunks made his head hurt, and he whimpered, hands going into his hair, gripping his locks tightly. He felt old scalp wounds come back open, and he felt his own hot blood start to trickle down. 

_'Look at you, falling to your knees. You sit there so prettily, like you belong there. Low to the ground, like the pathetic piece of trash you are. No one wants a piece of trash failure like you, Ren. No one. Not even_ **_him_ ** _...'_  

"Please..." whimpered out Kylo, hands tightening in his hair, as he felt himself sink to his knees anyway. His body was shaking, and his throat felt tight and dry. Breathing and swallowing was rather hard, and his chest hurt. What was going on? Was Snoke hurting him from afar? Was that possible? Could he do that--? 

"Kylo!" 

Kylo gasped, jerking his head up, the mere motion making his vision swim, almost blurring to grey. They only focused, once he felt Hux's hands on his shoulders, giving him a gentle shake, enough to try and snap him out of whatever was happening to him. Vision still blurry, he blinked only to realize that the reason his vision was blurry, was because they were full of tears. But while he could see Hux's hard face staring right at him, his clear eyes were rather concerned. He wanted to plead to Hux to not worry, that he was fine. He was always fine. He had other things to worry about, Hux didn't need to worry about someone as useless as him. 

"Speak to me." said Hux, his voice low and firm, but concerned, "What's going on, tell me--" 

Kylo lunged forward, grabbing at Hux's greatcoat, and jerking him closer. Hux barely caught himself, steadying himself on the wall, as Kylo practically buried his face into Hux's stomach, gasping for air, yet nuzzling into him at the same time. 

"...Help me..." Kylo whimpered, trembling as he heard  **him** chuckle evilly in his head, so cruelly that it churned his stomach. He let out a choking noise, before speaking again, "Get....Get him out of me...Please...it...it hurts...Please...e-exorcise him...exorcise me...Help me...Help me...!" 

He heard Snoke laugh in his head, so loud that it made sparks dance in his vision. Hux's words were drowned out, as Kylo's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he slumped over, Snoke's cruel chuckling following him into the darkness. 

 

 

Hux was at a complete loss of what to do. 

He'd run into Kylo while turning the corner, not even knowing he'd come back from Snoke's ship. But before he could even get in a word, Kylo was suddenly falling over, grabbing him, practically crying into him to help him, before collapsing. 

While the other man was larger and heavier than him, Hux didn't want him falling and cracking his head on the floor. He grabbed under Kylo's arms, catching him before he fell, before gently laying him down on the ground. He looked absolutely dreadful. His face was slightly gaunt, and so pale. And now that his hands were out of his hair, Hux could see small rivulets of it dripping down his head. Judging by how he smelled, he had a feeling there were most wounds on Kylo, then just his scalp. 

"Kriffing hell, what happened...?" Hux muttered, before looking around. His quarters were closer than both the medbay, and Kylo's...but he wasn't going to get him there easily. He and Kylo were almost the same height, but the man was a bulk of muscle, and weighed as such. The only way Hux could get Kylo to his quarters, was if he dragged him there, but Kylo didn't need to be dragged right now. But if anyone saw him like this, he wouldn't like it, and would probably go after the officer or trooper that would happen upon the two of them right now... 

Thankfully, the sound of approaching footsteps belonged to someone that Hux knew he could trust. 

Captain Phasma had just turned the corner, only to stop in her patrol and stare at the scene in front of her. Hux was kneeling down next to a very unconscious Kylo Ren, who had his hands in an iron grip on Hux's greatcoat. 

"Phasma, help me get him to my quarters." 

 

 

 

While he often joked about Phasma's almost inhuman strength, at this moment he was thankful that Phasma could easily lift Kylo Ren. After warning her of possibly injuries on his body, she holstered her rifle, before scooping him up off of the floor. It was almost amusing, seeing Kylo being carried like a swooning princess, but things were a bit more serious than that. 

"Shouldn't we bring him to the medbay, sir?" asked Phasma, as she watched Hux punch the code in for his room, letting her in first. She'd been to his rooms a few times, so she knew where his bedroom was. 

"Normally, I would say yes, but not on this occasion." said Hux, going to join her, "Something...happened during his time with Snoke, and him waking up in the medbay wouldn't be a good experience. For anyone in the vicinity." He gestured for her to lay Kylo down on the bed, who hadn't moved or made a noise since he collapsed, "Go and get me some of his spare clothes, and some more bacta and bandages from the medbay. I'll take over from here." 

Phasma nodded. He knew she had questions, but also knew she knew better than to ask them outright. He waited until she turned heel and left his quarters, before turning his attention to Kylo. He took his glove off, before gently pressing his hand against Kylo's forehead. He was burning hot. His breathing was uneven, and his eyes twitched uneasily beneath closed eyelids. As Kylo got to work on getting Kylo's clothes off of him, he recalled what Kylo had said, before he collapsed. 

_'Get him out_ _of_ _me_ _. Exorcise me...'_  

"Were you talking about Snoke?" asked Hux softly, working carefully to get Kylo's robes off of him. How the man wore so many layers, was beyond him, "...What did Snoke do to you...?" 

Hux shuddered to think what the Supreme Leader was capable of, to reduce Kylo Ren to such a state. And while their little flings here and there had been getting more...emotional...Hux couldn't help but be really concerned for the man in front of him. Concerned...and angry. 

Concerned for Kylo Ren. 

Angry at Supreme Leader Snoke. 

Pushing aside those feelings for now, Hux finally peeled off the final layer of Kylo's clothing and swore softly at what he saw. Kylo's chest was littered with cuts and bruises. Some were deeper than others, and some of the bruises were turning some nauseous colors. With some effort, he rolled Kylo onto his side, and swore more colorfully at the lashing marks he found on Kylo's back. He knew what they were—he'd been on the receiving end of a lashing as a child, at the hands of his father. To know that Snoke was doing the same thing to Kylo made that earlier anger burn hot inside of him. 

"Tend to him first, ask questions later." he told himself firmly, as he got up to go into his refresher for his medkit, and some washcloths. 

 

 

 

Once Phasma came back with what he'd asked for, Hux dismissed her. He'd call her, if something happened, or if Kylo started lashing out. He really hoped that wouldn't happen, but Kylo was very unpredictable—annoyingly so. He was glad for Phasma's delivery, as he'd used everything in his medkit on Kylo so far, and that wasn't including the lashing marks on his back. He finally got those cleaned and bandaged, before taking off Kylo's pants, next. Even his legs and feet were covered in marks. 

_What sort of punishment is this...?_  

But just as Hux was about to apply bacta to a wound on Kylo's upper thigh, the man's eyes shot open and he shot up, lashing out a hand and capturing Hux's wrist in an almost bone-breaking grip, causing him to gasp out in surprise and pain. Kylo's eyes were wild, and unfocused, staring directly at Hux through a mess of his hair that had fallen into his face, when he sat up so quickly. 

"R-Ren, let go--" 

"Liar...liar..." Kylo wheezed, his words slurring slightly. His grip hadn't lessened, but it was obvious he was more unconscious than aware. Hux just wished he'd let go, before he broke his wrist, "Liar..." 

"Wh-What are you talking about?" asked Hux a bit sharply, hoping his voice and tone would get through to him, and snap him out of it, before he had to hail Phasma for a wrist cast, "I didn't lie about anything, Ren. You're not--" 

"Liar...!" Kylo spat a bit louder, his grip turning bruising as his breathing started to quicken, "You...You...left me...You...You didn't...care..." 

Knowing his wrist was in critical danger now, Hux had to act fast. But before he could, Kylo let go on his own, and fell back onto the bed. Hux had thought he'd passed out again, but watched as Kylo's arms folded over his face, his body trembling. 

"Please...just....leave me...alone..." he whimpered out, his voice cracking slightly before a sob shook his body, "Please...g-go away...leave me be...Get...out of my head..." 

_Snoke._  Hux thought, watching Kylo  as he started sobbing in earnest now, arms still folded over his face.  _Snoke did this to him. Broke him down like this, leaving him to pick up the pieces. Abusing and using him..._  

That fiery anger welled up in Hux's stomach again, as he moved closer to Kylo, gently placing a hand on his broad, hot chest. His skin was still feverishly hot, and it was probably due to a combination of infected wounds and pure exhaustion. Feeling his hand there, Kylo jumped and stilled. It wasn't until he sniffled, and Hux felt he wasn't going to be thrown across the room, that he started speaking. 

"Kylo...it's me. It's Hux." he said softly, letting his hand rub gentle circles on Kylo's chest, "I'm here...It's only the two of us. No one else. You're here with me. You're away from him. Okay? I'm here..." 

Hux had no idea if that would work, but it was worth a try. Back when he was a child, and he had horrid nightmares of his father's beatings, Rae Sloane did something similar to calm him down. She'd convince him that Brendol was nowhere near him, and that it was just Armitage and Rae. No one else. It worked on him as a child, but would it work on a broken man? 

Apparently, it did, as Kylo slowly lifted his arms to peer at Hux. And Hux practically felt his heart break, seeing Kylo's tear stained face. His eyes were a bit more focused than before, but not completely so. It wouldn't take him much to fall back asleep. But before he did that, Hux had a few more things to do. 

"See? I'm right here." said Hux softly, slowly moving closer, keeping his hand on Kylo's chest, moving it in comforting circles, "He's nowhere near us right now. It's just the two of us. Me and you. Can you feel me? Hear me?" 

For a moment Kylo didn't respond. He took in a deep breath, and Hux felt his broad chest rise and fall under his hand. After that, he finally nodded slowly, swallowing hard, "...Hux...I-I...hear you..." 

His voice sounded weak and dry with disuse...or from too much screaming. Hux didn't want to think about the latter, "Yes, it's me. See? No one else." He swept his arm across the room, and watched Kylo follow it, looking around from where he lay. He felt some tension drain out of Kylo's chest, as he gently pressed his hand down on him again, gently grounding him in the present. 

"...Come here...?" asked Kylo, his voice breaking again, and so soft and weak that Hux almost missed the question. He slowly nodded, before kicking off his boots and crawling into bed carefully with Kylo, not wanting to jar him. Once he was lying beside him, Kylo lunged forward, strong arms wrapping around Hux's smaller frame, and pulling him close, legs tangling with his own. He shoved his face into Hux's chest, sobs choking out of his spent throat. He reeked of sweat, blood, and bacta, but Hux didn't care. He held Kylo close, being careful with the wounds on his back, as he threaded his fingers carefully through his hair, stroking those wonderful locks. 

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." said Hux softly, feeling another sob wrack Kylo's body, "I'm here...No need to hold back. I'll keep you safe. I'll get rid of him. I won't let him torment you like this again..." 

Apparently, that was the tipping point, as Kylo full-out bawled into Hux's chest, his arms almost crushingly tight around him. Hux swallowed hard, keeping his own emotions in check, as he continued to gently rub Kylo's back, and stroke his hair, cooing and whispering soft things to him, hoping that would drive out the voice of Snoke from his head. Hux knew he was far from Force sensitive, but now he wished he was. The Force would allow him to wrap Kylo up in comforting warmth, and keep that awful voice away, right? 

It could do that, right? 

Hux felt rather powerless right now, as he held Kylo close. Kylo was such a strong man, and so very useful. But he was useful for more than just his physical and Force prowess. Despite acting like a man-child all the time, Hux found out, through their flings, that Kylo was actually rather smart. He knew various languages that Hux didn't, and was so empathetic, that even without the Force, Kylo could tell that something was wrong with Hux, and instantly act to make him feel better. He was such an incredible person... 

It broke his heart to see Kylo so broken like this. Because of his master, the Supreme Leader. The one that was supposed to teach him, was instead hurting him and casting him aside like a beaten dog. Teachers were supposed to lead, not abuse. To pass on their knowledge, not make their students afraid of them. Certainly not to this extent. 

Hux blinked, as he realized that Kylo's sobbing had finally died away. Glancing down at him, Kylo's breathing had evened out, and was back to being unconscious. And while his body was still hot with a fever, his expression was a bit calmer than it had been before. He still had wounds to be taken care of, but from the way Kylo's arms were wrapped around him, Hux knew he wasn't going to be moving anytime soon. He sighed softly with a smile, as he placed a kiss on top of Kylo's head. 

"I'll protect you, Kylo..." he whispered softly into his hair, "I'll exorcise that bastard, and send him straight to hell for what he's done to you. I promise." 

_I'll free you from his clutches, even if the effort kills me._  

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr (absolutecreed)!


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